I've been a fan of Ryan Farr, the proprietor and butcher at 4505 Meats in San Francisco, ever since I took my first bite of his transcendent breakfast sandwich from their stand at the Ferry Plaza Market. In a world of sub-par sausages made from excellent meat, here is a man who really has his technique nailed down, I thought to myself. The maple sausage patty was perfectly juicy, with a springy, meaty bite, and just the right level of salt. It's everything you look for in a good sausage.

Since then, I've had the joy of trying a slew of his other creations—their understandably celebrated bacon hot dog, their bags of chicharrones, their head cheese and cheddar brats—all have been outstanding. So when I was contacted a couple months ago about an opportunity to mess around in the Serious Eats kitchen with the man himself, I jumped on it. The first thing that came to mind? Let's see Ryan's take on the classic New York hot dog.

As it turns out, Ryan has spent time in New York and has acquired an appreciation for the snappy, lightly smoked, garlic and paprika-flavored all-beef dogs served at Gray's Papaya and Papaya King. There's even a recipe for his own take on those dogs in his new book Sausage Making, which will be available from Chronicle Books in April (pre-order using the link below).

Made with excellent beef from Florence Meat Market, these hot dogs just about the juiciest, snappiest, and most flavorful anyone at this office has had, and they came 100% start to finish out of our tiny, Ikea kitchen.

Check out the slideshow for a full walkthrough of the process, or take a look at the recipe (excerpted with permission from the new book) with the link below.